Frugal Cookies

When I am making cookies that call for either chocolate chips or nuts, like this recipe, I will reduce the amount of chips and/or nuts I add. So, instead of adding the full 2 cups of chocolate chips, I will only add 1 1/2 cups. The kids don't notice the difference, and since the chips are the most expensive ingredient, I am saving money!

For more frugal tips, head over to Crystal's blog for Frugal Fridays!

Thrifting Bonanza

~UPDATED~

OK ladies, I over did it. I went to Goodwill and my favorite consignment shop today. The good news is that I had a whole whopping $2 earned at the consignment shop. The bad news is that between the two stores I spent $45! I know! I'm really bad! But wait, you haven't seen what I bought...

Can you believe it? Look at the stack of fabric

And look at this doggy newspaper fabric! I have no idea what to do with it, but it cracks me up!

Here's a list of the loot.

• a TON of fabric
• a TON of ribbons and lace
• a pom-pom maker
• 2 "Floral Lady" embroidering kits
• 5 glass ornaments
• 1 box of clear ornaments
• a brand new shower curtain from Kohls (originally $30)
• 2 sweaters
• assorted crafty ornaments and decorations
• 3 books
• and a 4 pack of Puffs

Here's one of the embroidery kits, someone already started it! Isn't it too cute?

Update:

When I got home from shopping I realized that I needed to get a new shower curtain rings, pole, and liner. Then I remembered that I had seen really nice chrome rings at Goodwill, but didn't buy them. So, I went back (praying all the time that they would still be there) and they were there! They were $2, brand new, originally $10 at T*rg*t. Then I did have to go to the store to buy the rod and liner, $17. But in all I got an entire new shower curtain and all the accesories for $29! The entire set would have been $57 dollars if I had bought them all new. Almost 1/2 off! And, it looks great in my bathroom!

Meal Idea For Busy Families

Like most families today, our family is busy. Between the four kids activities and my husbands work schedule, we are so busy that we don't always get to sit down together for dinner. I was really bothered by this because I know how important it is for us to have meals together. So, our solution was to sit down to breakfast together. It has been wonderful!

We have been doing this now for over a year and I love it! It's nice to sit down together first thing in the morning and touch base and talk about our plans for the day. And, I also know that they are starting the day with a healthy breakfast and not just cold cereal. At the end of the meal my husband will read from the bible and pray, and we work on scripture memorization.

So, this is what Works-For-Me! Hop on over to Rocks In My Dryer to find other great tips!

Ladies Night Out

Tonight I got to go out to dinner with my good friend Anne. It was wonderful to get to sit and chat for a few hours. Anne was one of the first people that I met when we moved here. We went to a playgroup together and now we go to the same church and our families are in a small group together. Anyway, I just wanted to say "HI" to you Anne if you're reading this. Thank you for being such a terrific friend and I am looking forward to our friendship continuing to grow!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday - Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Nothing makes my kids happier than when they walk in the door after school and are greeted with fresh baked cookies. This recipe happens to be their favorite.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C butter - softened
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C chocolate chips

Mix together flour, salt & baking soda and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in pudding mix and vanilla, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in flour mixture. Add in the Chocolate chips. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in a 375 oven for 13 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Stop by Tammy's blog for more great kitchen tips!

One Reason Why I Like Having A Dog

Do you know whats great about having a dog? Its not just the unconditional love, affection, and loyalty, not to mention that they're so darn cute. No, somedays there are added benefits to having a dog.

Take tonight for instance. Tonight my three teenagers are out at their Campus Life meeting and my 8yo son is in bed, hubby is away on a business trip. I was sitting here surfin' the web when the dog needed to go out. Well this month its my daughters job, but since she's not home I had to do it. Taking the dog out is not my favorite thing to do, but tonight was different. You see, tonight when I took the dog out, (rather than try to hurry him up and get annoyed because he has to sniff every last piece of grass on our lawn) I looked up. It's a crystal clear night here in Wisconsin, and I realized that its not very often that I look up and really SEE the sky and the moon and the stars. And they are beautiful. So thank you Lord for the beauty of your creation, and thank you for the dog that led me outside so I could see it.

Thats just one reason why I like having a dog.

Christmas With a Capital

Check out this video on You Tube. Its a little cheesy but I like the message. This year I'll be saying Merry Christmas every chance I get. Anyone else care to join me?

I WON I WON I WON!!!

I WON I WON I WON!!!!! OK, sorry for the excessive exuberance but I WON!!!!! I won a Christmas CD over at Oh Amanda's with this post about what our family does to get in the Christmas Spirit.

Thank You Amanda! You ROCK!

Sunday Scripture

Praise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 117

Tree Day

Over at Oh Amanda she's giving away two Christmas cd's, Charlie Brown and Harry Connick Jr.! Now I must say I do love Charlie Brown and all but I have a definite soft spot for Harry. So, Amanda wants to know what puts us in the Christmas spirit.

At our house, the day after Thanksgiving is known as Tree Day. (I'm starting to think we could've come up with a more creative name but I digress...) The day starts when I can finally get everyone up and ready to go (I have three teenagers. They like to sleep.) We head out of town to our favorite tree farm where the hunt for the perfect tree begins. It takes quite a while to all agree on a tree, but finally the decision is made.

Here is the family with our tree. There is A, 13, S is 8, K is 16, Dad holding Mugsy, and J is 18. I don't know why S had to wear the ski mask. After we cut the tree down we hop a ride back to the barn.

Now, after we get the tree wrapped up and loaded on the van, we have to stop and feed the reindeer. His name is Dasher.

Then we head home to pull out all the Christmas decorations and listen to our favorite Christmas tunes while we decorate.

Dad and A work on the outside lights.

Then we order in pizza. Lots and lots of pizza. Taco pizza, cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza. And cinnamon sticks. YUM!

And did you notice the Sunkist in the background? That is another big part of our day. We must drink Sunkist! It is the one and only day of the year that we drink Sunkist. I don't know why, it's just part of the tradition.

So there it is. This is what gets me into the Christmas Spirit. A whole day of trees and decorations, music and laughter, and lots and lots of pizza and orange pop! Hop on over to Amandas to check out other fun ideas for getting into the Christmas Spirit. I hope I win a CD ;)

Thrifting Goodies

Today my daughter and I took a break from our day after Thanksgiving festivities (I'll be posting about that soon) and took a trip to Goodwill. I looooooove Goodwill. There is always some great stuff to be found! Here's the booty from today:

• three Jan Karon books


• firefly votive


• shabby chic candle holder (will be painted white)


• shabby window w/wreath


• telephone table (will also be painted white)


• a bunch of records (My Fair Lady!)


• and tiny pilgrim salt & pepper shakers!

Take a closer look at the shakers:

Aren't they too cute? The picture doesn't do them justice, but trust me, they are so cute and I'm bummed that I have to wait a year to use them! Anyway, I hope these pictures turn out as this is my first attempt at posting pictures. The layout is a little wonky since I'm still trying to figure this all out. Hope you had a Happy Thanksiving!

Works For Me Wednesday

Well, since I'm new to bloggityville I thought "what better way to introduce myself than to post a WFMW?" The problem is, I couldn't think of anything! After all these months of reading WFMW and thinking I could post something useful, I was drawing a blank. ( Doesn't bode well for my blog writing does it :) ) Finally I came up with this: when I am reading a book I don't use a bookmark I use Post-It Flags. They are very useful because they don't fall out, even if I drop the book (I can be quite a klutz). I also like to use them in my bible to mark the different books or verses I am reading.

So, there you have it, my first WFMW post! That was easier than I thought. Now to go see if I can figure out Mr. Linky....

100 Things About Me

OK. Here goes my first blog post. I'm going to be really boring and start with 100 things about me. Don't feel like you need to read to the end, I might just have "blah blah blah" as my last twenty things.

1 - I was born in Chicago
2 - I have 3 brothers
3 - I don't have a sister
4 - I wish I had a sister
5 - I have 3 sons
6 - I have one daughter
7 - I wish she had a sister
8 - I have a wonderful husband
9 - he's really cute
10 - we moved away from the Chicago area 9 years ago
11 - I still miss Chicago
12 - especially the pizza
13 - and hot dogs
14 - We still live close enough that we can do day-trips back to Chicago
15 - I have been a Christian for most of my life
16 - in the past few years my husband and I have had a major shift in our theology
17 - we discovered reformed theology
18 - this has radically changed our lives
19 - its all thanks to RC Sprouls radio ministry
20 - its amazing how God works
21 - oh, by the way, I'm not a writer
22 - so please don't critique my writing
23 - or my grammar
24 - I might cry
25 - actually, I am not a big cryer
26 - I always worry that I should cry at funerals and that I won't be able to
27 - I usually do end up crying
28 - as you may guess from #26, I am a worrier
29 - you name it and I will worry about it
30 - the Lord is working with me in that area
31 - I have blond hair
32 - it is curly
33 - I have green eyes
34 - none of my kids have green eyes
35 - they all have blue eyes
36 - and loooooong eyelashes
37 - like their father
38 - we have a dog
39 - his name is Mugsy
40 - he is a schnoodle
41 - he is quite cute
42 - and really annoying
43 - he ran away this morning at 5:00am
44 - after a bunny
45 - annoying
46 - we also have a cat
47 - her name is Dee-Dee
48 - she is mean
49 - when we got her my kids were into the cartoon Dexters Lab
50 - she used to be nice
51 - until we moved
52 - we are all Bear fans
53 - we live in Packer land
54 - I didn't think the kids would remain Bear fans
55 - but they did
56 - even the one who was born here
57 - I love to read
58 - a lot
59 - I usually have at least 3 or 4 books going at any given time
60 - plus a large stack of books I want to read
61 - I love the library
62 - and book stores
63 - and fabric stores
64 - I love to sew
65 - I hate to go shopping
66 - except at book stores and fabric stores
67 - and thrift stores
68 - I met my husband at church
69 - He is an identical twin
70 - yes, I can tell them apart
71 - I need to be more diligent
72 - in every area of my life
73 - like money
74 - food
75 - housework
76 - cooking
77 - parenting
78 - and anything else you can think of
79 - I am working on it
80 - my children are in school all day
81 - please don't ask me what I do all day
82 - I hate it when people ask me that
83 - I want to open an ETSY store
84 - I'll let you know when I do
85 - I don't know the first thing about blogging
86 - so bear with me
87 - my given name is very unusual
88 - so unusual that I have never met anyone with the same name
89 - all four of my grandparents were from Sweden
90 - I always thought I would marry someone swedish
91 - but I didn't
92 - it doesn't feel like I've been married 19 years
93 - or a parent for 18 years
94 - I would go back and do it all again if I could
95 - but I can't
96 - so I am trying to enjoy my life in the season I am in now
97 - I am very fortunate
98 - I have a great life!
99 - so I'm going to share some of it with you!
100 - hurray! not a blah blah blah to be found!